MONTHLY WEATHER SUMMARY
By Laura Edwards
Western Regional Climate Center
March 2005

Read the full California Climate Watch newsletter here: Word Format or PDF format

Editor's Note: I would like to thank Bill Mork for his monthly weather summaries that have been in this column. He will soon be retired and I will be writing the summary for the meantime. Thanks, Bill, for your humor and insight into California weather and climate.

March 2005 proved to be a true spring transition month. It began a little moist, then warm, sunny and dry, and ended wet and a little stormy. The month brought some relief to the precipitation-deprived north and north coastal regions, and some glimmer of hope for the sun lovers around the state.

Overall, March was warmer than normal, with the average temperature 1.4 degrees above the 30-year average. Minimum temperatures contributed to most of this departure, coming in at 2.0 degrees above the 30-year average statewide. Precipitation for California was about 0.40 below average, or about 95% of average. The northern regions fared better than their southern counterparts with 102-147% of average for the month. The three southern regions reported 58-77% of average precipitation. Los Angeles, with its 2.14 inches of rain, is now officially in its second wettest rain year on record.

The first few days of March were wet in the southern coastal region, with record daily precipitation at San Diego Lindbergh airport (1.12 inches) and Ontario airport (0.43 inches) on the 4th. March 9-11 brought a spring-like dry period with warm temperatures, leading up to record highs being set throughout central California. Some record high temperatures on the 9th include San Rafael (77), Sacramento (84), and Mt. Shasta (71).

On March 11 many high temperature records fell, including Sacramento (85), beating the 1914 record of 81. Others include a San Francisco record maker with 87 degrees, which is also the all-time high temperature for March at that location, topping March 18, 1914. On this same date Ukiah made a new entry in the record book with 88, Red Bluff (84), Stockton (83), Richmond (85), Oakland airport (78), Salinas (89). Some of these doubled as monthly high temperature records such as Richmond, Oakland (88), and Salinas. More record high temperatures on March 12 included Mt. Shasta (74), Montague (75), Crescent City (69) and Eureka (68).

A period of transition followed this warm spell, bringing precipitation to many water-starved areas of the state, including the north and northwest regions and more snow in the Sierra Nevada. The North Coast region has been on the "drought watch" with continued dry conditions throughout the winter so far, and a healthy dose of rain at month-end helped ring this region in at above normal percent of precipitation for the month. Some record daily precipitation numbers included Crescent City on the 27th with 1.55 inches and again on the 28th with 1.42 inches. Fullerton in the south walloped an old daily precipitation record on the 22nd with 1.22 inches, over the previous record of 0.53 inches in 1973.



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